Create a Bootable ESXi USB Flash Drive Installer
For servers without CD drive the best way to install ESXI is using a USB flash drive. This article explains the steps to create a bootable ESXi Installer USB Flash Drive in less than 1 minute. The flash drive will work exactly the same as if you were using an installation CD.
1. Download Universal USB Installer
2. Download ESXi ISO Image
3. Connect the USB flash drive to the computer
4. Run Universal USB Installer:
5. Under Step 1: drop down menu Select “Try Unlisted Linux ISO“. (EXSi Hypervisor was built on Linux kernel)
6. Under Step 2: Click “Browse” to locate and select the VMware Hypervisor ESXI ISO file.
7. Under Step 3: choose the USB drive and check mark the “we will format” option. Then click “create”:
8. Read and click on yes to the warning below to start extracting and creating the ESXI USB installer:
9. Once completed click on Close button
10: Now the USB flash drive is ready to be ejected and used as a bootable, installable drive.
Video Tutorial: